Evening Bible Study Ezra 8:17-36 20141231 Ezr 8:17 And I gave them a command for Iddo the chief man at the place Casiphia, and I told them what they should say to Iddo and his brethren the Nethinim at the place Casiphia—that they should bring us servants for the house of our God. Ezr 8:18 Then, by the good hand of our God upon us, they brought us a man of understanding, of the sons of Mahli the son of Levi, the son of Israel, namely Sherebiah, with his sons and brothers, eighteen men; Ezr 8:19 and Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, his brothers and their sons, twenty men; Ezr 8:20 also of the Nethinim, whom David and the leaders had appointed for the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty Nethinim. All of them were designated by name. Ezr 8:21 Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from Him the right way for us and our little ones and all our possessions. Ezr 8:22 For I was ashamed to request of the king an escort of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the road, because we had spoken to the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all those for good who seek Him, but His power and His wrath are against all those who forsake Him. Ezr 8:23 So we fasted and entreated our God for this, and He answered our prayer. Ezr 8:24 And I separated twelve of the leaders of the priests—Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brethren with them— Ezr 8:25 and weighed out to them the silver, the gold, and the articles, the offering for the house of our God which the king and his counselors and his princes, and all Israel who were present, had offered. Ezr 8:26 I weighed into their hand six hundred and fifty talents of silver, silver articles weighing one hundred talents, one hundred talents of gold, Ezr 8:27 twenty gold basins worth a thousand drachmas, and two vessels of fine polished bronze, precious as gold. Ezr 8:28 And I said to them, You are holy to the LORD; the articles are holy also; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to the LORD God of your fathers. Ezr 8:29 Watch and keep them until you weigh them before the leaders of the priests and the Levites and heads of the fathers houses of Israel in Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of the LORD. Ezr 8:30 So the priests and the Levites received the silver and the gold and the articles by weight, to bring them to Jerusalem to the house of our God. Ezr 8:31 Then we departed from the river of Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem. And the hand of our God was upon us, and He delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambush along the road. Ezr 8:32 So we came to Jerusalem, and stayed there three days. Ezr 8:33 Now on the fourth day the silver and the gold and the articles were weighed in the house of our God by the hand of Meremoth the son of Uriah the priest, and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas; with them were the Levites, Jozabad the son of Jeshua and Noadiah the son of Binnui, Ezr 8:34 with the number and weight of everything. All the weight was written down at that time. Ezr 8:35 The children of those who had been carried away captive, who had come from the captivity, offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel: twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and twelve male goats as a sin offering. All this was a burnt offering to the LORD. Ezr 8:36 And they delivered the kings orders to the kings satraps and the governors in the region beyond the River. So they gave support to the people and the house of God. New King James Version The Holy Bible, New King James Version Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Ezra 8:16-17 Therefore Ezra sent 9 leaders and 2 men of learning to secure some Levites and temple servants from the man Iddo. Ezra told the messengers what to say, which seems to indicate that this was a delicate task which needed to have some weight behind the message. The 11 messengers were sent to Casiphia, whose location is no longer known. Ezra 8:18-20 The men were able to secure 38 Levites from two families — 18 from Sherebiah’s family and 20 from Jeshaiah’s relatives — as well as 220… temple servants. Only then was Ezra ready to start on the important journey. Without the Levite teachers of the Law and people to serve at the temple all would be lost and the trip futile. Ezra 8:21-23 b. Preparations made for the journey (Ezr_8:21-30) First, spiritual preparation was made for the journey. Ezra was concerned with matters pertaining to God’s people. So Ezra proclaimed a fast in preparation for the journey. He wanted the assembled group thereby to humble themselves before… God in order to ask Him for a safe journey for themselves, their children, and their possessions. Being humble before God shows one’s spiritual dependence, his acknowledgment that God is in total control. Ezra did not want to ask for military protection (soldiers and horsemen) because he had already publicly announced that God would take care of the people as they returned. In contrast, Nehemiah readily accepted a military escort on his way back to the land (Neh_2:9). Ezra 8:24-27 Next, physical preparation was made for the journey. Ezra divided the silver… gold, and articles among 24 of the key men in the group. These items were gifts for the temple, given by Persian officials and by nonreturning Israelites. They included 25 tons of silver, silver articles weighing 3-3/4 tons, 3-3/4 tons of gold, 20 bowls of gold that weighed about 19 pounds, and two expensive bronze objects. All this would be valued at many millions of dollars today. No wonder Ezra was concerned about the people’s safety (Ezr_8:21). Ezra 8:31-34 c. The people journeyed and arrived (Ezr_8:31-36) Only a few statements were made about the journey and the arrival. The group left Babylon on the 1st day of the first month (Ezr_7:9) and they left the Ahava Canal on the 12th of the same month. Since they were at the canal three days (Ezr_8:15), the site of their canal encampment was about nine days’ travel from Babylon, perhaps 100-130 miles away. The total journey was about 900 miles and must have been difficult for a group without a military escort. However, Ezra was content merely to relate that the hand of our God was on us (cf. Ezr_7:6, Ezr_7:9, Ezr_7:28; Ezr_8:18, Ezr_8:22) and that the Lord granted the returnees protection. On arriving in Jerusalem, after a three-day rest, everything was turned over to the priests and Levites and weighed (Ezr_8:33-34). Several of these temple officials are also mentioned in the Book of Nehemiah: Meremoth (Neh_3:4, Neh_3:21), Jozabad (Neh_11:16), and Binnui (Neh_3:24). Ezra 8:35-36 Then the exiles offered sacrifices to God. The four kinds of animals — bulls (apparently one for each tribe of Israel), rams… lambs, and goats — were the same as those offered at the temple dedication (Ezr_6:17), but now the number was smaller. A copy of the king’s edict was given to the surrounding officials (royal satraps and governors), who were to carry out his wishes under Ezra’s leadership. This caused the surrounding peoples to assist the Jewish postexilic community. The section ends in an interesting climax — God’s good hand was so evident on His people that even surrounding peoples helped them in the sacrificial system, the means of fellowship with God. God provides for the Exiles and helped them conicrate themselves for the Lord, He then delivered them out of the hands of Satan and into His hands of love, grace and mercy. Revelation From God
Posted on: Thu, 01 Jan 2015 00:31:55 +0000